I recently purchased a Kampus K39 wakeskate and decided to give wakeskating a try. My main reason for buying a wakeskate was because my family no longer owns a boat, only a PWC, and I figured wakeskating would be a more gratifying use of the PWCs AA-cup sized wake. I bought the K39 because it was the cheapest thing on eBay and all the article I read about skate sizing said rider size wasn't a key in board sizing, it was more about riding style, whatever that means.

I have been wakeboarding since the boards were made of thick hollow plastic and had windsurf toe straps for bindings, if fact they were not even called wakeboards back then. So I figured getting up on riding the wakeskate shouldn't be all that difficult. And low and behold it wasn't all that difficult, my first pull was behind a friend's Malibu, I got up (deep water) no problem, rode around, fell her and there, and generally had a good time. Then the next day I decided to try to get up (deep water) behind my family's PWC (a Polaris 1200 DI triple, no power slouch) and dragged and flopped and dragged some more, but could not get up. Discouraged but not defeated, I tried to get up behind my other friends 185hp SeaDoo 4-stroke, still no luck. At this point I should probably mention the I weight a hair under 200 lb and I know the K39 is probably a little small for me, but I did not expect board size to cause this type of difficulty. Also, I can get up behind the Polaris on my full size wakeboard (Vero 143) with no problem.

The next day I did mange to get up on the K39 using the Polaris. This was accomplished by taking about 5 foot of slack in the rope and letting the PWC get a slight headstart, before it jerked me out of the water, much to the protest of my arms and shoulders. Although I was satifyied I concoured my demon, I hope not to have to use this "jerk" technique on a regular basis.

So, What is the secret to getting up behind a PWC on a wakeskate? Is there an alternative technique I need to use starting behind the PWC? Should I just buy a bigger board? Help me Obie Wan your my only hope.

i cant get up behind my jetski either so what i have to do is either dock start or sit in really shallow water, just like you would be for a deep water start, but i have a little 700cc waveraider and i weigh 145lbs, but i ride the same board

Try a heal start like you would do for surfing. This way the board & you don’t start deep in the water. Lay flat on your back with the board floating under your heals, and your rope & handle at your hips. Once the waverunner starts taking slack out of the line the board will kick up under your feet. Once the driver sees this he should hit it. I start newbie’s this way that have wakeboarded before because they like to stand up quickly.